What are your favorite parts of collecting/gaming over the past year? Please share!

[spacepup | 2,405]

So, I know there is a lot of talk lately about frustrations with collecting, frustrations with "the hobby," frustrations with big auction sites and speculative investors.  BUT, rather than focus on all that non-fun stuff, let's talk about some of your favorite collecting or gaming moments over the past year!  I just KNOW there is some good stuff going on out there, and I hope by sharing our experiences we can be slightly rejuvenated or encouraged about how this hobby can be great and how we can all have fun.

I'll start!

From a purely collecting standpoint, I've ramped up my purchases from Japan over the last year, delving into some really neat and obscure items, and exploring even deeper into the taikenban / not-for-sale library for both PlayStation 1 and PlayStation 2.  Throughout that, I've acquired some truly amazing and unique pieces!  For example, and this is just one of the many great lots I've been able to acquire:

The above pic is only about 1/4 of the lot I bought with similar items, some of which are extremely rare.  There were over 100 items.  It was a fantastic deal given the rarity of some of them.

To my GREAT surprise, it even included a rare item that was not even in the pictures! It is a Silent Hill 2 Taikenban (demo) for PlayStation 2 Japan, and it is extremely difficult to find for a reasonable price:

  

I didn't expect it at all, and it was a super crazy surprise for me.  I'm going after the full PS2 japan demo set, and this was one I actually thought would be unobtainable for me, so it was super awesome to see it!

I'm having more and more fun, just digging deeper into the library and finding so many interesting and unique items.  It has been great fun, and I've been able to learn a lot in the process.

Outside of collecting, I've THOROUGHLY enjoyed the Game Nights we've been doing here at VGS.  Thanks so much to @Jeevan and everyone else who has been participating.  I've met some really great people throughout the process, and it has been some of the most fun engaging with the community, that I've had in several years.  I encourage everyone to check it out and join us if you'd like - we always have a great time!  We've also been able to keep this up during the pandemic, and it has been a positive, fun gaming outlet for many of us, especially during those times when things were more restrictive and we couldn't be as social as maybe we would have liked.

 Over the last year, we've had so many challenges, with COVID, game prices going insane, and so much more, and YET, I'm still having so much fun in this hobby and continuing to find things to dig into.  But more importantly, and MOST importantly, I've met some great people who I consider friends, and that is worth way more than anything else.  

I hope others can share some of their favorite moments / experiences over the last year!

 

[RH | 4,924]

This is a noble and worthwhile post, so thanks for asking!

Recently I personally started getting involved in the weekly NES competitions.  I've sat out the past few weeks due to life, but I've really enjoyed that.  I usually get participation points, but it's still fun to just be involved.

I've also, slowly been trying to tighten up my battle station.  I had a gcomp, which I wasn't to fond with, so I "upgraded" to an Extron Mav series, 16x16 matrix.  I have it all setup (you have to mod some cables to get the audio to work) but I need to plug everything in, and I need some zip-ties so I can start making a clean pile of wires.

Oh, and I got my first real, in-the-wild big score this year!  Someone two blocks from my house had crates of games for sale.  Atari, Wii, PS1, and more.  What I bought I paid $65 for but was valued around $800.  I sold off most of it and was able to keep all of the Atari stuff, which I've been meaning to get into for more than a few years.  THAT was a really, really good day.

 

Edited July 15, 2021 by RH

[docile tapeworm | 4,204]

i got two xbox 360 power supplies, for $5.25 yard sale'n this year.

[spacepup | 2,405]

@RH That's great! I haven't participated myself, but all the people who do seem to really enjoy it! I don't think I'm good enough haha   Also, great local find!  That goes to show, even though it is much less common, still happens every now and then - congrats!

And @docile tapeworm congrats on the nice find! Even the little wins are still wins. 

Thanks for sharing and I hope to see some more cool stuff

[docile tapeworm | 4,204]

13 minutes ago, spacepup said:

 

And @docile tapeworm congrats on the nice find! Even the little wins are still wins. 

it is still fun. im sure if i watched myself from the third person and how excited i get to find even power supplies, i would be embarassed. lol. i mean im not tipping off the seller but i run over to them, untangle them and yoke them up like i found stadium events.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,550]

Well, not to be sappy, but the extreme generosity of the people around here.

@acidjaguarsurprises me with my last SNES cart.

@Jeevan insists on sending me his extra Buck Bumble.

@spacepup sends me a bunch of Nintendo Powers, which end up having a sealed final issue in them.

Just to name the stuff from this year, because that's always been a trend with this group.  And I never forget.

 

And as far as gaming goes, I'm really happy to see the backlog challenge thing take off.  I want to make that a perennial thing, with an ever growing number of participants.

[spacepup | 2,405]

Not sappy at all! That's one of things I love about a smaller community - people helping each other out!

I think the backlog challenge is a great idea and I definitely hope to see it continue on! I feel bad for failing it pretty badly atm, but once I get re-established after moving, I'll try to pick it up again.  Even if I can just knock off a few titles, that's progress.  Thanks for that great idea!

[drxandy | 3,235]

 

Ok this is long but.. A lot! The last year has been a whirlwind, covid lockdowns lead to increased focus on hobbies as well as leaving home less. Internet activity for me shot up, and although sometimes I struggle with social anxiety (even in internet settings) I feel better about being social lately. Had a lot of positive changes the last year and am about to get married so things are riding pretty high.

The community here has been lovely, game nights are a blast (thank you Jeevan for putting them on, I know it's a lot of work) and I always look forward to playing.

I wanna do more nes comps, I only tried the chubby cherub one but it was super fun. I know I won't be placing high but still.

The generosity is real! The couple secret Santas I've participated in I always tried to go a little overboard because it's so cool to me imagining them getting stoked on what's inside and for me opening the Santa gift is the best because i love seeing what people include! The generosity of youuuu too Spacepup, sending me cool weird Xbox stufff that I didn't know existed(which got me super hyped on researching and finding more haha).

Bouncekdelemos sending me a Sega Saturn chip just for advice on helping remove it

Deals I've got from other members here have been very fair and I have loved the global commerce, it's so fun for me to see how many countries i've received game stuff from.

Collecting wise the price changes have shifted me several times because I get distracted easily haha. I was going for n64 fullset boxed, around 2014/15 and also started building ontop my og Xbox collection a little more serious thanks to local sales of 40% already cheap prices. Then jpn gamecube exclusives, and other systems.. The last year was heavy Xbox because Japan shipping was an issue, and I'm not mad at all. 

The cold brew is working great.

Whew anyways love you all, thanks for being great.

 

[spacepup | 2,405]

Woo cold brew! YES!

Thanks for sharing andy

Glad to hear you are enjoying things, even if you had to do a little shifting around here and there.  

Congrats again on the engagement - I'm so excited for you two! Make sure to do that VGS livestream like we talked about hahaha

[croagunk | 798]

Some of my favorite parts of collecting this year would have to be:

- Getting a copy of Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness for the GameCube.

- Getting Animal Crossing for the GameCube.

- Adding a Nintendo 64 to my collection.

I also have to give a shout-out to the VGS community. For keeping collecting and gaming fun and being supportive to everyone.

[Hammerfestus | 3,863]

It’s been a pretty much exclusively boxed NES collecting year.  I’ve really embraced the secret deal that is great condition items at a solid price  from the average.  

Like a bunch of folks around here I really benefited from the lockdown price hikes.  The new standard for PSX games has allowed my collection to fund itself.  It’s a pretty sweet feeling.  I’m mostly hanging on to my $$ stuff but now it’s also led me to realize how much garbage I’m storing and a strong desire to clear it out and replace it with new crap .  It’s really ramped up this past spring and summer and led to the purchase of complete copies of Dragon Warriors 3 & 4.  Not some fantastic garage sale deal but the condition on these things was so beautiful that I had to have it.  Now my NES Dragon Warrior collection is complete.  Oh yeah I added a nice condition Action Set box too.  

I post collection updates in other threads so I won’t get into the gory details here but I really feel like my collection is maturing and I am maturing as a collector.   I’ve had to really.  I quit my job last October and now I’m a SAHD.  Buying and selling and transforming my collection feels good in a world where I spend 16 hours a day chasing snot nosed beasts.
 

 I too have been having more interest in Japanese Import stuff.  Not necessarily as far as exclusives and unique pieces go but looking for Japanese compliments to my Game series collections.  
 

The amount of box protectors this all requires is insane.  
 

Lastly, I’ve been getting into trying out the forum games and just being more involved in the VGS community and I love it.  I’ve gotten to know a bunch of you better and I’m really glad — mostly  

Edited July 15, 2021 by Hammerfestus

[MegaMan52 | 2,452]

Favorite parts of collecting this year: going to a game store that opened a few months ago, and buying several imports. I've been collecting and playing imports for years, so being able to just walk into a nearby store and not having to pay for shipping and wait a month to receive my games was a dream come true (though I still like buying games from Japanese sellers on eBay). I bought Japanese copies of Dr. Mario for Game Boy, Yoshi's Cookie for Game Boy, Super Mario Land 2, Super Mario RPG, Kirby's Block Ball, Kirby's Star Stacker, Mario Party, Mario Tennis, and Kirby 64, some of which also included the box and/or manuals and were sold for reasonable prices ($20 Canadian for a Japanese copy of Mario Party with manuals? I'll take that!).

Favorite parts of gaming this year: Playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with @Jeevan, @drxandy, @Mega Tank, @fox, @SNESNESCUBE64, and @ZeldaFreak on Game Nights. One Mario Kart game night in particular was very memorable (to me, anyway): we were playing Bob-omb Blast in Battle mode, on the Sweet Sweet Kingdom course. It was really intense, but at the very last second the blue team (my team) just barely won the match (literally a single point). Playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was fun too, even if it was laggy.

The match I'm talking about is in this video, starting at 13:31.

Edited July 15, 2021 by MegaMan52

[DefaultGen | 5,414]

I'm also in the weeds of Japan, learning a lot about 80s computer games and early Nintendo variants/rarities. It's kind of twofold even because I'm also learning lots of variants that are going crazy in the US market. There's lots of new info free floating in space now. It sucks that there's nowhere it gets organized, but more collectors than just the deep, deep guys are looking into microscopic variants than ever I think.

For better or worse, I'm getting around to many items on my "one day" want list. Had 2019 not happened I'd almost certainly be trying to box random Nintendo tapes or start collecting the PS or PS2 set. Since 2019 spooked me, I've stopped buying set fillers and am just paying up for more big ticket wants out of fomo. I mean, not the best reason, but I have tons of stuff like CIB Doom, CIB SMW, NewLeaf, MS Flight Simulator 1.0, super nice Magnavox Odyssey etc. that I've wanted forever but never got around to because they're expensive and not in a set project.

[SNESNESCUBE64 | 542]

1 hour ago, MegaMan52 said:

Favorite parts of gaming this year: Playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with @Jeevan, @drxandy, @Mega Tank, @fox, @SNESNESCUBE64, and @ZeldaFreak on Game Nights.

 

Nobody ever wants to play mario kart with me though!

 

My favorite part of collecting this year has definately been restoring mu street fighter 2 pinball and my Nintendo Radarscope. As well as finally finishing up my Mario Bros. Only half way through the year though, I just started restoration on a Taito cabinet that is going to be Bubble Bobble, so that may become the definitive favorite for me.

In terms of favorite games so far this year, it has definitely been Digimon Cyber Sleuth on switch. It's been pretty fun so far, I'm about halfway through the first of the two games it comes with and look forward to finishing it

[The Count | 528]

Not too much, unfortunately, as EBay is tougher and tougher to find stuff I need. However, I have been to a couple smaller, local Facebook generated shows that I picked up a few things.

[DarkTone | 986]

Helping others. I rarely add to my own collection, but I DM others and help them track down missing pieces. 

[Brickman | 3,995]

The community here and the great deals members still enjoy doing with you

Also enjoying Reed’s backlog challenge because it gives me focus, even if I’m nowhere near my goal right now. I’m hoping for a second half push to get closer to my goal.

[RH | 4,924]

1 minute ago, Shmup said:

The community here and the great deals members still enjoy doing with you

Here, here!  I've been assisted multiple times and people on here have led me to auctions I would have missed, or shared really good deals on item's I've wanted that they found at a great price!  It makes it easy to reciprocate with others.  Give as you've been given too!

And let's not forget Secret Santa!  I've only partaken in a few others in other communities, and my wife has both participated and organized many of them over the years.  By far, this is the awesomest community. Grinching is rare, and so many of you guys go waaaay above and beyond the call of experience. Thanks everyone (and certainly @Secret Santa for making that awesome year over year!

[inasuma | 1,203]

I've been able to build up a pretty modest collection of all my childhood favorites. I've since changed focus into getting better condition copies, as some of my current ones are either well loved or damaged.

Otherwise, I've been able to find some really cool special edition copies of my favorite games:

• Walmart bundle for Pokemon SoulSilver/HeartGold
• Axiom Verge Multiverse Edition
• Big box (sealed) copy of Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast from 2001 (!!!)
• Controller bundles for Super Smash on Wii U and Switch

Edited July 15, 2021 by inasuma

[a3quit4s | 4,107]

I've had fun getting closer to the end of the NES loose set. Paying a pandemic premium hasn't been fun at all but it hasn't really taken anything away from the hobby for me. Watching the sealed madness and people loosing their minds over it has been entertaining. 

Still waiting 6 years later for the bubble to burst lol

[Jeevan | 8,914]

Thanks to all who mentioned game night!  Has been a good time in my opinion!  Just glad to help out with the site honestly.  

In terms of collecting, I have had a blast collecting for n64 this year, and am within sight of the end goal!  I love helping others, and have had the pleasure of helping out a few folks.

I also have grown as a host on the forum.  Glad to have hosted my first Werewolf Game, and also helped with the Survivor with @KokiriChild.  

I had a blast this last year, and hope we can ALL keep hanging out and playing games and collecting.  I have met some awesome people and hope to meet many more on this site!  You all make Game Night happen, and YOU ALL help keep this site awesome!  Glad to be a part of it!

[Knud | 100]

Best part of the year was probably when i stumbled back in here part of me had been missing since NA went haywire, really great community. 

But i have been on my journey now collecting all Mega mans and am moving forward there. 
 

Got analogue nt mini, which i really like taking for a spin on a HD tv
Then i have been enjoying my Neo Geo AES (apart from the steep prices of games)

 

[spacepup | 2,405]

Thanks everyone for all the great comments about VGS! I'm happy to see people are having a good time.  This thread wasn't necessarily setup just to fish for VGS compliments, but the thoughts and feedback are very much appreciated!  

The goal here really is to talk about all the great and positive things that have happened over the last year - not just on VGS, but for your collecting, your gaming, the "hobby" in general, etc.

Things have changed quite a bit, and with the pandemic and other factors turning the market a bit upside down, it's still cool to see that people are still having fun collecting and playing video games.  

It's ok for people to express their disappointment and discouragement about certain popular events and whatnot, and I encourage openness and honesty.  But at the same time, I have always had the perspective that we can all make this hobby enjoyable - it's all about perspective and how we adapt to the many changes that are completely outside of our control.  There is still so much to enjoy - tons of games to collect, tons of great games to play, and lots of fun experiences to be had.  

Yeah, it kinda stinks that money is flowing in, and some things are getting expensive - and every now and then, it's fine to vent and express disappointment about that.  However, I try to just focus instead on all the things I CAN be doing, or the parts that I can control, rather than dwelling over things I can't control.  

Interestingly enough, I've acquired some of my very favorite items over the past year to year-and-a-half, and some at extremely reasonable prices.  Part of that is because of my sort of niche interests, so I perhaps have an advantage there.

Anyway, I really enjoy hearing these stories, and the accomplishments people are making, even in the current market and crazy times.  Keep up the great work everyone and don't give up!

 

[T-Pac | 7,568]

This year I've really fallen in love with high-score gameplay, thanks to the NES Weekly Contests and the Atari Leaderboard. The older I get, the simpler my gaming tastes become.

As far as collecting, this is the first time in 8 years that I've looked back at my NES collection and felt the "fear-of-missing-out" start to subside. There aren't many titles left on my "must-have"s list, which is fantastic because the NES is the only platform where I actively seek-out nearly every single game I'm interested in.

I also kicked-off my Famicom collection and got a Namco Legacy Arcade 1-Up machine. Two things I've been itching to get into for way too long.

It's been a great year for me. There has never been a better time (relatively) for collectors who like loose games and poser aftermarket stuff haha.

-CasualCart

[Tanooki | 4,940]

Honestly thinking back over this year, favorites have been buckshot scatter and a bit or equally random luck in cases too.

Just some random highlights from memory:
- $25 for Parachute Game & Watch locally
- At cost got the LRG Sega Astro City Mini(thanks) after losing out
- Snapping up the Bit Brothers NES/FC, SNES/SFC, and Gameboy hardback coffee table books to enjoy
- GB Micro with a couple plates, USB charger for $100 --- my new user system
- Getting the remaining books for the Worlds of Power series (1-8) to geek out over in all its cheesy might
- Finally experiencing the Arcade1UP countercade stuff, found a new ($60) Galaga/Galaga 88 to play with
- Upgrading my CIB Gameboy Color atomic purple with an IPS panel so it's the ultimate 8bit gameboy for all play.
- Discovering the terribad-awesome Timetop Game King II and getting some fun weird clear blatant KO multicarts to enjoy

(Seriously, like rubber monster movies in the same respect it's so bad it's actually fun and good)

-...and of course just random good local deals on stuff, latest the $80 Batman ROTJ(NES) for $50, solid game.

Honorable mention: Martin(Acey) of NES World found around 1/3 of my old library of digital music I made in the 90s for the NES World Jukebox